O2 Mobile Phones

O2 mobile phone deals cover the latest top-range handsets along with mid-range and budget options for every type of customer. As well as offering pay monthly deals with a maximum contract length of 36 months to spread the cost of expensive devices, O2 mobile phone deals can also be taken for as little as three months or on a pay as you go basis.

Mobile cover for O2 mobile phone plans is generally good across the UK, although customers should check the coverage in their local area and the places where they spend a lot of time to be clearer about the signal strength they should expect. Equally, while O2 5G services have been rolled out to more than 150 locations across the UK, coverage is still patchy.

O2 is not the fastest network around for 4G services and can't compare to the speeds offered by EE. However, they do offer extras such as O2 Priority that may make up for slower speeds and provide extra value to customers.

O2 mobile phone plans can be searched and filtered in the table above, allowing customers to narrow down their search options and see the O2 mobile handsets that fit their criteria.

O2 offer the latest handsets from major manufacturers like Apple and Samsung alongside smaller names like Sony and Motorola, so customers have plenty of choice when looking at O2 mobile phone deals.

O2 mobile handsets include flagship devices such as the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra as well as mid-range devices including the Google Pixel 4a and budget devices like the Moto G 5G Plus. There are O2 mobile phones available on both 4G and 5G networks, with 4G devices often cheaper.

The prices of the latest O2 mobile phone deals are listed in the table above. Be aware that manufacturers often release multiple colours of devices and this means there are plenty of options for individual handsets. If you know the handset you're looking for, use the filter options to narrow down the search results.

Although O2 don't win plaudits for having the best mobile coverage, they still have strong levels of 4G coverage including high levels of 4G indoor coverage. This is especially high in rural areas where O2 indoor coverage is better than their three rivals.

Across the individual nations of the UK, O2 are solidly in the middle of the pack, so many customers will find them a solid choice when it comes to coverage.

However, mobile coverage must be understood on a local level, so anyone looking at O2 mobile phone deals should check their coverage using the official tool on O2's website.

As for 5G coverage, O2 is continuing to roll out 5G services to be used with compatible O2 handsets. Again, they are in the middle of the pack for 5G locations, but customers should be aware that 5G availability even in a 5G location is often limited and it will take time for the full effects of 5G to become available to O2 mobile customers.

O2 launched their 5G services in 2019 and there are more than 150 locations across the UK where O2 5G has already been rolled out to some degree.

O2 stock a variety of 5G-ready handsets from major manufacturers like Apple and Samsung, with this number set to grow as more manufacturers release 5G ranges at cheaper price points.

Customers with 5G phones will need a 5G SIM from O2. This will be provided to customers when they choose a 5G O2 mobile phone deal and it works in the same way a 4G SIM does.

There are no extra charges for 5G services from O2 in comparison to 4G services, so there are no additional tariffs to be aware of or surcharges added to bills. Customers with a 5G device and 5G SIM will automatically be able to access O2's 5G network.

It's easy to search for O2 5G handset deals by filtering the results in the table above to include only 5G-ready devices.

The cost of O2 mobile phone tariffs varies depending on the handset a customer chooses, but their prices are competitive when pitted against pay monthly deals from other networks.

Like all mobile networks, O2 will frequently run special offers on their handset plans, ensuring they are better value than those offered by other networks at least for a short time. These special offers include cheaper upfront costs or lower monthly prices. They can also include extras such as short subscriptions to streaming services.

It's also possible for O2 customers to spread the cost of their handset over a longer period than other major networks offer to their customers, with handset contracts of up to 36 months available with O2 Refresh if you click through to their website. This can bring the monthly cost of O2 mobile phone deals down in comparison to similar deals from other networks.

O2 began offering unlimited mobile data with O2 mobile tariffs in 2019 and these are available for customers to browse in the table above by selected Heavy internet use.

Taking unlimited data from O2 usually gives customers everything the network has to offer such as enhanced international roaming and extra streaming subscriptions. However, the exact features will be listed on the O2 deal pages after a customer clicks through on the table above, so be sure to check which features are included.

O2 isn't usually the cheapest network for unlimited data deals - they are often unable to compete with Three's cheap unlimited deals, but there will be exceptions on a device-by-device basis, so be sure to compare mobile tariffs on specific handsets to get the best available deal.

If customers can afford to buy their O2 mobile phone upfront, they can access monthly rolling airtime plans from O2. These deals can be cancelled with a month's notice so, while they are not pay as you go deals in the traditional sense, they are easy to cancel for customers who don't want to sign up to a long-term contract. These are available on minimum three-month contracts.

Customers can also choose a more traditional pay as you go experience when purchasing their mobile phone outright. These are called Big Bundles and offer a customer a set package of minutes, texts and data that will expire within one month.

These Big Bundles can be cheaper than monthly rolling airtime deals, although they don't always come with the same benefits as rolling deals so customers should weigh up the differences between making a choice.

O2 customers can access O2 Bolt Ons that allow them to add extra data, minutes or texts if they are on a pay monthly plan that restricts their monthly usage or on a pay as you go deal.

Some bolt-on services last for a single day while others such as the MMS Bolt On last for a month. Some are one-off purchases, but others will recur on a monthly basis if they are not cancelled.

In practice, the most useful bolt-ons for O2 mobile customers are likely to be the international options providing discounted calls and texts to international destinations.

As well as these bolt-ons, O2 also offer several mobile insurance cover options. These may be useful for customers looking to protect their devices, although it's worth checking existing home insurance policies to see whether the cover is already offered by your insurer.

Customers signing up to O2 mobile phone plans will receive access to O2 Priority. This is an online marketplace offering exclusive discounts to O2 customers and early access to tickets for certain events.

Offers on the O2 Priority marketplace change frequently, though they can include deals on experiences, fitness equipment, food and drink or gaming. In-person offers are tailored to a customer's location, so there will always be something new to check out.

O2 make use of their venues across the UK to provide their mobile customers with priority access to a range of events. These give customers the opportunity to get tickets to events that may otherwise sell out quickly when they go on general sale.

As members of O2 Priority, customers will also receive special perks at venues themselves including free O2 wi-fi, priority queuing and entry to exclusive spaces around the venue.

Customers taking O2 mobile phone tariffs with more than 5GB of data every month will receive access to an O2 Extra as part of their contract. For customers with tariffs between 5GB and 29GB of data, the Extra will last for three months. For tariffs with more data than that, the Extra will last for either six or twelve months depending on the tariff terms O2 are offering at any given time.

These extras include streaming services such as Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, although the roster of available extras is liable to change.

In addition, other subscriptions are available instead of video streaming services such as music or magazine subscriptions and even mobile device security.

The catch with all these extras is that they are time limited, so the most customers will usually get is twelve months of their chosen freebie, and often the period will be half that.

O2 mobile phone deals split the amount a customer pays every month between their device costs and their airtime costs. This means that customers can opt to pay more per month for their device to bring contracts down to as little as three months with airtime on a monthly rolling deal running alongside.

The reality is that most customers will choose to spread the cost of their device over a longer period of time, often the 24 months usually offered by other providers as this makes financial sense for many customers. However, O2 offer handset contracts up to 36 months, allowing customers to spread the cost for longer.

O2 customer service is in line with the mobile industry average, so the number of customers who are satisfied with service, reception, signal strength and value for money broadly match the industry average according to Ofcom reports.

There are a couple of areas where O2 customer service stands out above their competitors. For example, their customer service advisers are quicker to answer the phone than their rivals, so customers with a problem should be able to get through quickly. Plus, O2 have lower levels of customer complaints than the industry average too, so fewer customers seem to have a reason to complain with O2 than other networks.

Read more about mobile customer service and how O2 are doing.

Choosing between O2, Vodafone and EE will largely come down to personal preference and perhaps which network operator has better coverage in a customer's local area. However, there are some noticeable differences between O2 and other networks to be aware of.

O2's 4G speeds can't match those offered by EE, although their 5G performance is looking promising. Similarly, Vodafone and EE offer better geographical coverage than O2, so customers looking at travelling around the UK may want to consider overall coverage too.

O2 Priority is a perk that other networks simply can't match and the option to spread the cost of an O2 mobile handset over 36 months instead of the usual 24 months will be attractive to some customers.

O2 say most O2 mobile phones are not locked to the network when they are purchased, with almost all devices unlocked since August 2018. The exceptions to this rule are Alcatel and Doro devices purchased via O2 - these are currently still locked to the network.

Pay monthly and pay as you go customers in the UK can ask O2 to unlock any device previously purchased from them, although the number of these locked phones is small anyway.

Customers should note they need to honour any contract with O2, so even using their phone with a different network doesn't mean they can exit their contract with O2.

Customers can buy O2 mobile phones outright by paying upfront for the full amount as if they were buying a phone on a pay as you go deal. As most O2 mobiles are unlocked, the customer can then use their new handset with the network of their choice, although customers with Alcatel and Doro devices will find their handsets are locked.

However, not all devices will be available to customers purchasing an O2 handset in this way, especially as O2 hold their latest models back for pay monthly customers.

A way around this is to buy the handset over three months using a pay monthly deal which splits the device costs and the airtime. This allows customers access to the latest O2 devices and they can then cancel the monthly rolling airtime bundle when they want to leave.

Switching to an O2 mobile phone deal from another network is straightforward thanks to rule changes by regulator Ofcom in recent years.

Customers will need to obtain a Porting Authorisation Code (PAC) from their existing network operator. A PAC can be obtained simply by texting a number, so a customer no longer has to engage with the customer service department of their current network if they want to leave. This makes it easier for customers to switch to O2 or any other network without feeling pressured into staying with their existing network.

It's also possible for customers to switch to O2 and get a new number without speaking to their existing provider (as long as they are out of contract). In this instance, customers will request a Service Termination Authorisation Code (STAC) via text instead.